The good Italian
By: Stephen Burke
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 2014
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 312
ISBN-13: 9781848549142; 9781848549159; 9781848549166
Subjects: Man-woman relationships; Fiction; History; Colonies; Italian colonies; Love stories; Eritrea History Fiction; Italy Colonies Africa History 20th century Fiction
Description: Enzo Secchi, harbourmaster for Massawa, Eritrea's main port, is a loyal Italian colonial servant. He takes pride in running the docks, enjoys the occasional drink with his gregarious friend Salvatore, colonel of the local Italian garrison, and listens to Caruso in his spare time. But he is lonely and when Salvatore suggests he find an Eritrean housekeeper to cook, clean - and maybe share his bed - Enzo takes the plunge and advertises. Salvatore's own tastes run to the young and nubile, but Enzo surprises himself by choosing Aatifa, a sharp-tongued woman in her 30s with a complicated family life, who takes the job as a last resort. What neither of them had counted on was falling in love. But when Italian forces invade, with them come new laws -- including one forbidding 'Relationships of a Conjugal Nature' with Eritrean women.
Table of contents: title: 1935. Enzo Secchi, harbourmaster for Massawa, Eritrea's main port, is a loyal Italian colonial servant. He takes pride in running the docks, but he is lonely. Colonel Salvatore suggests he find an Eritrean housekeeper to cook, clean; title: and maybe share his bed. Enzo surprises himself by choosing Aatifa, a sharp-tongued woman in her 30s with a complicated family life, who takes the job as a last resort. What neither of them had counted on was falling in love. But when Italian forces invade, with them come new laws; title: including one forbidding 'Relationships of a Conjugal Nature' with Eritrean women.